Throughout modern history, world powers have repeatedly fought over this strategically
valuable land.
Its name means “fragrant harbor” in Chinese, but it could also mean “City of
Change.”
This is the story of Hong Kong.
The first wave of people to arrive in large numbers had fled Genghis Kahn and his brutal
Mongol hordes.
They chose Hong Kong because of its advantageous geography.
150 million years ago, volcanic eruptions formed a deep, but narrow harbor with an island
on the other side.
This orientation protected ships from storms and allowed vessels to come and go quickly
from either side.
With 230 islands, the region was the perfect hangout for pirates.
One of the most successful in history was Madame Ching who - alongside her husband - commanded
80,000 buccaneers and a fleet of 800 ships.
In the early 1800’s British merchants found Hong Kong the perfect port to unload the opium
they had brought from India.
With addiction rampant, the Chinese government cracked down.
British-controlled warehouses at Canton were raided, 20,000 chests of opium were destroyed,
and the entrance to the Pearl River was blocked.
The British responded forcefully and destroyed the blockade, occupied the island of Hong
Kong, and sent their fleet up the Pearl River to intimidate the Daoguang Emperor.
When negotiations failed, they attacked and occupied Canton.
After a year of war throughout China, the British captured Nanjing and extracted favorable
peace terms.
To get them to leave, China paid a large sum, surrendered control of Hong Kong, and allowed
foreign access to other harbors including Shanghai, which is now the world’s busiest
port.
Back in Hong Kong, Christian missionaries started schools and churches to spread Jesus.
But slinging religion and drugs wasn’t enough for the British, they wanted to make more
money.
Meanwhile, back on the mainland, a man named Hong Xiuquan was having visions that he was
the younger brother of Jesus.
He gained a huge following of peasants and launched a long and bloody rebellion against
the Qing dynasty.
With China engulfed in civil war, the British had their opening.
This time they teamed up with the French to invade the mainland, sack Beijing, and burn
down the emperor’s summer palace.
They used this victory to negotiate control of the Kowloon Peninsula, giving the British
both sides of Hong Kong’s main waterway, now called Victoria Harbor.
A few years later the British extracted a 99-year lease of the surrounding islands.
As Hong Kong westernized — the differences between it and the rest of China grew.
One of widest divides was in education.
While studying at Hong Kong College of Medicine Sun Yat-sen and a group of friends plotted
their successful revolution to takedown the Chinese Empire.
Today, Sun is considered the Father of the Republic of China.
Fast-forward to 1941.
The same morning Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, it launched an assault
on Hong Kong, which the British surrendered after an 18-day battle.
For three years the Japanese violently ruled the territory under martial law.
Of the 1.6 million people who lived there when the invasion took place, more than one
million had fled or were deported by the time the Japanese were defeated to end the second
world war.
After Japan left, the British reestablished control.
Despite the decolonization happening in the rest of their empire, the British were determined
to keep Hong Kong even if it was just a skeleton of its former self.
China’s civil war in 1949 helped turn that around.
The Communist Party’s victory forced Shanghai’s capitalist class to flee to Hong Kong.
This transformed it into a thriving manufacturing center.
But working conditions were poor and squatter camps grew out of control.
53,000 people were left homeless when a fire ripped through one of these shantytowns.
The housing shortage led to the embrace of the high rises that now define the Hong Kong
skyline.
When war broke out in Korea in 1950, the west blocked all trade with China.
With access cut off to mainland markets, Hong Kong’s economy suffered a sharp downturn
that amplified social unrest.
To recover, Hong Kong’s capitalists turned to high-tech electronics and finance.
In the 1970’s and 80’s, with Hong Kong finally thriving again, China demanded that
Britain hand over the entire territory in 1997 when the 99-year lease over the New Territories
was set to expire.
Wary of the Chinese, but eager to avoid a breakdown in relations, Britain agreed to
surrender the New Territories, the Kowloon Peninsula, and Hong Kong island itself, but
only after giving them a bill of rights and forcing China to agree to a “One Country,
Two Systems” policy.
This gave China control, but allowed Hong Kong and Macau, the other special administrative
region, to keep their capitalist economic and political systems for 50 years.
In the two decades since the handover, Hong Kong’s economy has remained open and strong,
but China has begun to assert more control.
In 2014, massive demonstrations successfully blocked Beijing from implementing national
education in Hong Kong’s schools, although protesters failed to pressure the central
government to allow them to directly elect their own Chief Executive.
Instead, Hong Kongers choose from a handful of candidates approved by Beijing.
As we move ever-closer to the date of full reunification with the rest of China in 2047,
many questions remain unanswered about Hong Kong’s future.
Thanks for watching.
For more on China check out our mini-documentaries on China’s domestic megaprojects, and the
many they plan to build in the rest of the world.
Until next time, for TDC, I’m Bryce Plank.